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Chapter 7

This document discusses permeability and hydraulic conductivity of soils. It contains the following key points: - Soils have interconnected voids that allow water to flow through the soil based on hydraulic gradients. Darcy's law relates flow velocity to hydraulic conductivity. - Hydraulic conductivity depends on properties of both the soil and the fluid. It can be estimated through laboratory or field tests that involve measuring flow rates under different hydraulic conditions. - Empirical equations have been developed to relate hydraulic conductivity to soil properties like void ratio, based on experimental data. These equations allow estimating conductivity at different void ratios.

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Marcus Natividades
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627 views30 pages

Chapter 7

This document discusses permeability and hydraulic conductivity of soils. It contains the following key points: - Soils have interconnected voids that allow water to flow through the soil based on hydraulic gradients. Darcy's law relates flow velocity to hydraulic conductivity. - Hydraulic conductivity depends on properties of both the soil and the fluid. It can be estimated through laboratory or field tests that involve measuring flow rates under different hydraulic conditions. - Empirical equations have been developed to relate hydraulic conductivity to soil properties like void ratio, based on experimental data. These equations allow estimating conductivity at different void ratios.

Uploaded by

Marcus Natividades
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 7: Permeability

• Soils have interconnected voids through which


water can flow from points of high energy to
points of low energy.
• Estimating the quantity of underground seepage
under various hydraulic conditions.
• For investigating problems involving the pumping
of water for underground construction.
• Making stability analyses of earth dams and
earth-retaining structures that are subject to
seepage forces.
Hydraulic Conductivity

Bernoulli’s Equation:

Where: h = total head


u = pressure
v = velocity
g = acceleration due to gravity
γw = unit weight of water
Z = is the vertical distance of a given point
above or below a datum plane.
Pressure, elevation, and total heads for flow of water
through soil
Because the seepage velocity is small:
u
h z
w
The head loss, Δh, can be expressed in a
nondimensional form as:
h
i
L
Where: i = hydraulic gradient
L = distance between points A and B –
that is, the length of flow over which the loss of
head occurred
Darcy’s Law:
v  ki
Where: v = discharge velocity, which is the
quantity of water flowing in unit time through a
unit gross cross-sectional area of soil at right angles
to the direction of flow
k = hydraulic conductivity (otherwise
known as the coefficient of permeability)
Given, q, the quantity of water flowing through the
soil in unit time:
q  vA  Avvs
Where: vs = seepage velocity
Av = area of voids in the cross section of
the specimen

Also:
A  Av  As
Where: As = area of soil solids in the cross
section of the specimen
q  v Av  As   Av vs
v Av  As  v Av  As L vVv  Vs 
vs   
Av Av L Vv

Where: Vv = volume of voids in the specimen


Vs = volume of soil solids in the
specimen
  Vv   Where: e = void ratio
1     n = porosity
  V s   1  e  v
vs  v  v 
 Vv   e  n
 V 
 s 
Hydraulic Conductivity
The hydraulic conductivity of a soil is also related to the
properties of the fluid flowing through it by the equation:

w
k K

Where :
 w  unit weigh t of water
  viscosity of water
K  absolute permeabili ty
Example Problem:

A permeable soil layer is underlain by an


impervious layer as shown. With k = 5.3 x 10-3
cm/sec for the permeable layer, calculate the rate
of seepage through it in m3/hr/m width if H = 3 m
and α = 8˚.
Example Problem:

The hydraulic conductivity of a clayey soil is 3 x 10-7


cm/sec. The viscosity of water at 25°C is 0.0911 x 10-4 g
sec/cm2. Calculate the absolute permeability of the soil.
Laboratory Determination of Hydraulic
Conductivity

1. Constant Head Test (For Coarse-Grained Soils)


2. Falling Head Test (For Fine-Grained Soils)
Constant Head Test:
Q  Avt  Akit
Where: A = area of cross
section of the soil specimen
t = duration of
water collection
h Where: L = length
i
L of the specimen
 h QL
Q  A k t k
 L Aht
Example Problem:

A constant head laboratory permeability test on a fine


sand gives the following values:
Length of specimen = 254 mm
Diameter of specimen = 63.5 mm
Head difference = 457 mm
Water collected in 2 min = 0.51 cm3

Determine these values:


a. Hydraulic conductivity, k, of the soil (cm/sec)
b. Discharge velocity (cm/sec)
c. Seepage velocity (cm/sec)

The void ratio of the soil specimen is 0.46.


Example Problem:

For a constant head permeability test, the


following values are given:
L = 300 mm
A = specimen area = 32 cm2
k = 0.0244 cm/sec

The head difference was slowly changed in steps to


800, 700, 600, 500, and 400 mm. Calculate and plot
the rate of flow, q, through the specimen, in
cm3/sec, against the head difference.
Falling Head Test:
h dh
q  k A  a
L dt

Where: a = cross-
sectional area of the
standpipe
A = cross-
sectional area of the soil
specimen
aL  dh 
dt    
Ak  h 

aL h1
t log e
Ak h2

aL h1
k  2.303 log 10
At h2
Example Problem:

For a variable head permeability test, the following


values are given: length of specimen = 380 mm,
area of specimen = 19.4 cm2, and k = 2.92 x 10-3
cm/sec. What should be the area of the standpipe
for the head to drop from 640 to 320 mm in 8 min?
Empirical Relations for Hydraulic Conductivity

Hazen:
k (cm/sec)  cD 2
10

Where: c = a constant that varies from 1.0 to


1.5.
D10 = the effective size (mm).
Casagrande:
k  1.4e 2 k0.85
Where: k = hydraulic conductivity at a void ratio
e.
k0.85 = the corresponding value at a void
ratio of 0.85.
Kozeny-Carman:
e3 Where: k = hydraulic
k  C1
1 e conductivity at a void ratio e.
C1 = a constant.
Samarasinghe, Huang, and Drnevich:
en
k  C3
1 e
Where: C3 and n are constants to be determined
experimentally

The equation can be rewritten as follows:


log k 1  e  log C3  n log e
Example Problem:

The hydraulic conductivity of a sand at a void ratio


of 0.5 is 0.02 cm/sec. Estimate its hydraulic
conductivity at a void ratio of 0.65.
Example Problem:

For a normally consolidated clay soil, the following


values are given:
Void ratio k (cm/sec)
1.1 0.302 x 10-7
0.9 0.12 x 10-7

Estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the clay at a


void ratio of 0.75. Use Huang, et. al.’s empirical
equation.
Equivalent Hydraulic Conductivity in Stratified Soil
Example Problem:
Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells

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